Kent, Wash.-based Stoke Space says it has successfully completed the first hot-fire test of the engine that will power the first stage of its reusable Nova launch vehicle.
The firing was conducted on June 5 at Stoke’s testing site in Moses Lake, Wash., the startup said today in a news release. During the two-second test, the engine ramped up to its target starting power level, producing the equivalent of 350,000 hp in less than a second, and held that power level until shutdown. At full power, the full-flow staged combustion engine is designed to produce over 100,000 pounds of thrust.
The rocket engine was designed and manufactured in just 18 months. The medium-lift Nova rocket’s first-stage booster will be powered by seven of the engines.
“We are incredibly proud of this achievement,” Stoke Space CEO Andy Lapsa said. “Our team has worked tirelessly to bring this engine to life in record time. This successful test is a testament to their talent and dedication, and it puts us one big step closer to bringing the Nova launch vehicle to market. Nova has unique capabilities that give commercial, civil, and defense customers access to, through, and from space.”
Stoke successfully conducted a vertical-takeoff-and-landing test flight of its reusable second stage last September. Since then, the company has been focusing on first-stage development. For the rest of this year, Stoke expects to continue maturing its engine and vehicle design while scaling operations for orbital launch.
Stoke Space said last year that it was targeting 2025 for its first orbital test flight — but that timetable depends on progress in the development program.
Last October, the company announced that it raised $100 million in Series B funding, with Industrious Ventures serving as the lead investor. Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a fund backed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has participated in multiple funding rounds.
Stoke has also received research grants from NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Defense Department.
Lapsa and Stoke’s other co-founder, chief technology officer Tom Feldman, are both veterans of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture. Stoke’s HQ is less than a 10-minute drive from Blue Origin’s HQ in Kent.
